Introducing the new Mobile Computer Lab

Information Technologies has designed a mobile computer lab service for UW Bothell. The Mobile Computer Lab is becoming a service in order to meet the growing demand for instructional space on the UW Bothell campus, in particular, computer classrooms. Use of the Mobile Computer Labs enables a number of non-standard spaces to be utilized as teaching computer classrooms.

What is the Mobile Computer Lab?

The Mobile Computer Lab service provides delivery of laptop carts to UW1, UW2, and Campus Library Building spaces. This service provides up to 60 laptops per use, and can be deployed in three different carts. Each of the three carts will hold 20 laptops. The Mobile Computer Lab Service is primarily designed to support regular, credit-generating courses at UW Bothell, but may be requested for other official UW Bothell business when not in use for courses. The service provides:

60 laptops that run Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems

IT staff will provide the mobile computer lab by scheduled and approved delivery. IT staff will drop the lab off in the requested location and turn over custody to the requester. Staff will return to pick the lab up at the end of the event.

Service orientations (mandatory prior to first use) to help users understand how to care for this high-value equipment.

The mobile computer lab laptops will come loaded with the standard IT computer classroom software loads for Windows and CSS Linux workstations as well as any software installed by the CSS liaison in support of CSS classes (Note--does not currently include audio/video editing software).

As with other general (Windows) lab computers, these laptops will be able to print wirelessly to the fee-for print DawgPrints printers provided for student printing.

Users should always store data using appropriate online services or external media (such as a flash drive or external hard drive) as the data on the mobile lab laptop hard drives will often be erased between uses.

Who can use these mobile computer labs?

During the initial roll-out phase, the primary client/end user will be the Computing and Software Systems (CSS) program. Beginning Fall quarter 2013, we are planning to make the service available to the wider campus for academic use and approved events.

Scheduling the Mobile Computing Cart

First, be sure to have the classroom/space reserved through the office of the registrar. You can contact the office of the registrar in UW1-160 via email or phone (425-352-5240).

The CES staff member will then contact the requesting patron to coordinate the use of the Mobile Computer Lab which is dependent upon (but not necessarily limited to):

Equipment availability.

Satisfactory completion of the user orientation for Mobile Computer Lab use

Sufficient time between the ending of one reservation and the beginning of the next.

Battery re-charge time.

Delivery time to move the Mobile Computer Lab from one classroom/building to the next.

In general, the Mobile Computer Lab can be used by back-to-back classes, but after two classes, the batteries will need to be charged 3-5 hours before the lab can be deployed for another use.

This service is available each academic quarter during IT's normal hours of operation:

Monday through Thursday: 8:00am to 10:00pm

Friday: 8:00am to 5:00pm

Saturday: 9:00am to 5:00pm

Interim Breaks: The Mobile Computer Lab will not be available during the first week of any Interim Break due to maintenance needs.

Deployment Locations: The Mobile Computing Lab can be reserved and deployed only to the following on-campus, indoor locations: UW1, UW2, UW3, LB1, LB2, LBA, The North Creek Events Center, Food for Thought, CC1, and CC2.

Equipment Delivery:

The Mobile Computer Lab will be delivered to the classroom/space indicated by the requester and handed off to that person. The requester should be at the space/classroom so that the equipment does not sit unattended. We will always try to connect with any staff will have to leave the cart(s) in the classroom unattended for short periods of time. Since the requester will have had an orientation to the operation of the mobile lab, it will then be the responsibility of the requester to take the laptops out of the carts and distribute them to the students. Classroom and Event Support personnel are not available for this process as they have many other scheduled events to attend to on their daily schedule.

Equipment Pickup:

The Mobile Computer Lab cannot be picked up and transported to the next scheduled class until all the laptops are put back in the carts and plugged into power and ethernet connections. The requester of the Mobile Computer Lab is responsible to make sure that all laptops are put back into the mobile cart and plugged into power and ethernet connections. The cart cannot be picked up by classroom support staff until this is done and IT staff members are not available to assist in this process. Please understand that returning all the laptops to the cart(s) can be time consuming and the requester should begin this process a minimum of 10-15 minutes before the actual end time of their class time. Delays in getting all the laptops returned correctly to the cart(s) will impact any class coming in to use the room you are vacating as well as delaying the delivery of the Mobile Computer Lab to the next scheduled user.

Help and Assistance:

Users experiencing problems with the operation of the laptops, or the laptop cart itself, should contact the UWB IT Helpdesk via telephone (425-352-3456) for immediate assistance.

Questions or suggestions concerning the overall service being provided, please contact the UWB IT Helpdesk via email IT@uwb.edu, phone (425)-352-34560, or in person (LB2-218).

If you are interested in using the Mobile Computing Lab, please read the following agreements for more information.